


It's Too Early For This

by BoatsNHoes



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Insomnia, M/M, Mentions of Death, Nightmares, Possible smut, Post Game AU, dave has trouble sleeping, i'm shit at tags, john also has trouble sleeping, john mention, late night pestering, michael douglas mention, nothing good comes from being awake at one am, probably, this is more venty than anything, very possible, will tag as it progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:38:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7121764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoatsNHoes/pseuds/BoatsNHoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which our protagonist can't catch a wink of sleep and decides to make a rookie mistake that we've all made at one point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of just me venting that i turned into a fic. My lovely partner is more than welcome to add another chapter to this if she likes. ~Kan

It’s nights like these that you wish you were John. 

Your name is Dave Strider and you are wide awake at 12:32 in the morning. The noises in your head are keeping you awake, the constant ‘tick.. tick… tick…’ that’s going through your head every hour of every day is loudest when you want to sleep. You’ve taken three melatonin already. It’s not fucking helping though, god you wish you could just call John. But you know better. You’re not that guy, you know he’s probably sleeping or doing something with his friends. You’re not going to be a clingy fuck. 

So you’re sitting in your bed, trying to figure out how you can just finally pass out. You can’t even rub one out without getting distracted by the fucking ticking metronome in your goddamn head. Is this what you’re reduced to? You’re Dave Elizabeth FUCKING Strider, and all you want is to not be fucking lonely. All you want is to be okay, to sleep, to not be squigged out by your own feelings. 

God you hate your feelings the most. They make you feel pathetic. You can’t handle being pathetic at almost one in the morning. So you click on another 90’s flick and glare at your laptop screen, you can’t help but notice that in the late 80s and early 90s, Michael Douglas was a literal lady killer. That slick son of a bitch.  
Ok, you’re kind of getting sick of your own internal dialogue. God damn you’re a fucking downer, why don’t you think positive Dave? Oh yeah, you can’t. Especially when you have a shitty option for an alternative to this inner monologue. Should you suffer through the ticking or keep this infernal racket rambling in your head. You decide you can suffer to talk to yourself some more, at least in your head. You don’t need to make noise that would wake up Bro.

You miss having John with you all the time. You’re pretty sure you spoiled yourself when it came to spending time with him. Sleeping with his nerd body all close quarters in one room. You should call him or message him. 

……you shouldn’t.  
Tick. Tick. Tick.  
You should…. Tick, tick. No, no you shouldn’t. 

Fuck it, you’re weak. You open up pester and stare at his handle, what did you want to say? What were you even thinking? Did you have a plan past this? No, no you didn’t because you are the Queen of not planning ahead. Second cousin to the King of Winging it, and brother to the Duke of being a dipshit. You wear your crown with the grace of a swarm of bees in the rain.

You swallow, hands shaking over the keyboard. Ok, Ok, you can do this. You can fucking do this.  
\----turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] ---- 1:13 AM  
TG: ok so I know its like… hella fucking early in the morning and I shouldn’t be making choices at this time of night but… hey.  
TG: shit i shouldn't have messaged you. its too fucking early for this kind of bullshit  
TG: sorry  
TG: im really not expecting a response. It was more of me just wanting to let you know im awake and down to talk  
TG: fuck that makes me sound lame  
TG: ignore that.  
TG: ignore all of this actually.  
TG: shit


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep is a fickle mistress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really sure exactly what's going on with this au. Or how Kan wanted to swing it, they asleep. So I'm just gonna wing it! Ahead thar be pov switches and fumbling in a gratuitous undefined au. ~Reg

It's nights like these that you really wish you were Dave.

Your name is John Egbert and you are waking up in a cold sweat, shaking and panting for air as you look around the room. Normal bedroom. normal pajamas. Check. you take a shuddery breath and stand, moving to the window and holding your breath for a moment before you look out. Street corner. Street lamp. The whole neighborhood is there. Check. Dave? You check your laptop, theres a blinking notification from him, labeled ten minutes ago. Check. You take another breath and move back to sit on your bed, sitting there until the shaking subsides.

This isn't what you're like all the time. You're pretty good at coping with (burying) things all on your own, no freakouts here! You are a happy guy, gosh darn it! But apparently sleeping John didn't get the memo, because he seems pretty set on flushing that all down the toilet with a different stupid shitty dream every night. Way to go, sleeping John. The nightmares didn't start up until about a month after things finished. Once the relief and celebrations died down and the sense of normalcy settled back in. You couldn't just have that, that would be too easy. So, nightmares.

Some nights are worse than others. Vivid replays of dying. On your quest bed, in god tier. Some nights you dream you wake up, open the blinds, and find the void outside your window, surrounding the pillar of earth that your home is resting on. And then there are nights like these. Reliving the times you saw your friends die. Tonight it was Dave. Arriving too late to find him laying face down and- You shake your head, shoving that image to the back of your mind. It's in the past. He's alive. You're all alive. This is so _stupid._ You wish you could be as collected about all this as he is. 

That blinking notification on your open laptop catches your attention again and you stand, moving to sit at your desk. Talking to him will help, right? Tell your mind to shut up. You click to open the program. 

\----turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] ---- 1:13 AM

TG: ok so I know its like… hella fucking early in the morning and I shouldn’t be making choices at this time of night but… hey.   
TG: shit i shouldn't have messaged you. its too fucking early for this kind of bullshit  
TG: sorry  
TG: im really not expecting a response. It was more of me just wanting to let you know im awake and down to talk  
TG: fuck that makes me sound lame  
TG: ignore that.  
TG: ignore all of this actually.  
TG: shit

Huh. Maybe he can't sleep either? He always gets kind of weird when he's tired.

EB: no, it's okay. you always sound lame :p!  
EB: what's up? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to any readers that I'm leaving it here. I'm hopeless at writing Dave ~Reg


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeyyy, look who can't sleep again. So here's another chapter for the fic that i pretty much work on when i can't seem to fall asleep. Have some more Dave POV, eventually we'll choose one to keep on with, but until then... we gonna keep switchin it up. ~Kan

Your name is Dave Strider and you didn’t expect John to respond. Fuck. What the hell are you going to do now? You can’t fake being asleep because he knows, he fucking knows you’re awake, god damn you need to think things through better. Ok, deep breath, you can do this, you can make up an excuse. 

TG: shit man I didn’t think you’d be up this late

TG: nothing is up really, just can’t sleep is all. I’m going out on a limb and say that you couldn’t sleep either? 

TG: shit it wasn’t me that woke you was it?

EB: no, I woke up on my own. No worries.

EB: what’s keeping you up dude? Is it serious or just not sleepy?

Shit what do you say to that? That the constant metronome of bullshit is in your head and tormenting you with how you’re never going to have a peaceful night of sleep ever again. Maybe you could go over to his house? No, you don’t want to keep him awake any longer. You’d feel kind of bad, but then there’s the side of you that is craving his attention all the fucking time because you’re a needy, clingy son of a bitch. You let out a sigh.

\----turntechGodhead [TG] is now an idle chum---- 1:45 AM  
EB: Dave? Are you ok?

EB: yooo hoooo, Dave?

TG: shit, sorry I got distracted

EB: do you want me to come over?

Do you want him to come over? Well, the needy part of you does but the proud part of you is saying ‘shut the fuck up and try to sleep’. You’re going to listen to the needy part of your brain, being needy doesn’t seem like a bad option right now. Maybe the company will help quiet down the ticking.  
TG: sure man

TG: won’t your dad freak out if you sneak out?

EB: I don’t think he’d worry about me going to your house 

EB: see you in a bit nerd! :B

Ok, so now you just have to pick up your room a bit so he doesn’t realize what a terrible human being you are. You honestly don’t know if those clothes are clean or not. Damn it, you’re just shoving them all in the hamper, you don’t care. He should be here in about fifteen minutes unless he takes the car, but that’s doubtful. You know he likes to walk or ride his bike, it’s John, he likes feeling the wind on his face. You finish cleaning your room and sit on your bed, nothing else to do now but wait for John. Should you masturbate before he gets here? Do you have time for that? God you don't even think you could get it up right now, should you try... no. No its too risky at this point, you'd hate for him to show up and find you wanking it. Boy wouldn't that make your relationship more awkward than it already is. You get up and go to the bathroom, putting your head under the bathtub faucet and dousing yourself with cold water. That should help you chill out, you don't even bother to towel your head off when you head back to your room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pretty much am writing without a direction. It's like an open RP between me and Reg, except when the two of us work on it, one of us is sleeping. So there's a lot of guess work when writing, but also a good portion of editing in the waking hours. Everyone try to get some sleep <3 ~Kan


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short update because I'm a horrible person with a disgustingly upsetting sleep schedule. So, here you go.  
> ~Kan

You feel fucking pathetic, you didn’t want John to become your safety blanket, but that’s really what he’s become. You can’t just sit on your bed anymore, you have to get up and pace around your room. You feel on edge, maybe you should call him and tell him not to come? Would that be a dick move of you?

There’s a tapping on your window, well fuck it’s too late now. You see John waving at you before cracking the window open and crawling through. 

“Hey Dave, what’s got you so wound up?” He smiles, flopping down on your bed.

“Pfft, nothing? I’m just.. awake? Yeah, I took a nap earlier and now I can’t bring myself to fall asleep again.” You shrug, that’s a bold faced lie, and he’ll probably see right through it, but it’s the only answer that won’t bruise your pride. 

“Riiiight, and I’ll pretend that I believe you.” He sits up and pats beside him. 

You sit, facing away from him, so he can put his hands on your shoulders and start working out the tension. God, you’re so glad he played the piano, it gave him excellent finger control. 

…. That sounds hella dirty. You shake your head a little, “So, what had you awake and ready to fly the coop?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.” You’re not exactly sure what that means, but you know that he has to have a habit of waking up in a cold sweat. He did it once when you stayed over at his place, he thought you were still asleep, but you’d been awake too. Maybe you can tell him about the ticking that fucking keeps you up.

“Jesus, Dave, you’re wound tighter than a piano string.” He finds a particularly painful knot. You wince as he starts to work it out. 

“Yeah, that’s definitely a thing that’s happened…. Hey, john? Can I ask you a serious question?” You keep your head bowed.

“Anything.”

“Do you ever think about the game… and what happened?” You hold your breath, his hands stopping.


End file.
